Flexible technology developed by Alstom gives combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants the ability to operate at highest efficiency when at 95% output, allowing for a 5% base load power reserve at times of greater demand. "Our sequential combustion system allows the efficiency peak to be tuned to output, giving operators access to an extra power reserve within the plant base load range in periods of peak load demand or when ancillary services are asked by the electric grid system operator," Arno Stein, Head of Product Promotion at Alstom's gas business told Gas to Power Journal.
Though the Peterhead project can help prove the technical viability of CCS on gas-fired power generation, rolling out CCS at commercial scale will take more than just a successful demonstration: "It requires smart policies that allow industry to build a business case around the technology," Sean McCoy, analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA) told Gas to Power Journal.
The UK government's £1 billion programme to develop commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) is expected to demonstrate CCS for fossil fuel power generators at a cost as low as £100/Mwh by mid-2020's, putting it on a par with offshore wind, delegates at the 'Next steps for Carbon Capture and Storage in the UK' keynote seminar heard in London today. "By 2030 CCS could provide a significant portion of flexible demand," said Leigh Hackett, vice president at Alstom.
German fuel cell developer Sunfire has secured a seven figure euro investment from Total Energy Ventures and Electranova Capital. Sunfire’s product portfolio includes high-temperature solid oxide fuel-cells (SOFC) as well as solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs), power-to-liquid and power-to-gas systems. "Technology is at the tipping point of being robust and cheap enough for field applications and most trends in energy technologies over the next decades to come will improve market conditions for SOFCs," Nils Aldag, one of the founders of Sunfire GmbH told Gas to Power Journal.
Indonesia's PLN Enjiniring and GE are developing a "comprehensive marginal gas-to-power solution" with no pipeline infrastructure. Termed as a "virtual" pipeline, the pilot project in remote islands of Indonesia will use GE Oil & Gas' LNG-In-A-Box technology.
New data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) details the extent to which natural gas-fired power has pushed out coal-fired plants, with total U.S. coal consumption by power producers falling from 1 billion tonnes per year in 2008 to just 0.75 billion by 2012. New England showed the largest percentage drop as coal plant consumption dwindled from 7.5 million tonnes in 2008 to just 1 million tonnes by 2012.
U.S. manufacturer FuelCell Energy (FCE) has completed the world’s largest fuel-cell plant at the Gyeonggi Green Energy site in South Korea, generating 59 MW of output from hydrogen formed out of natural gas. The fuel-cell park, located in Hwasung City in the north west of the country, provides baseload electricity to the South Korean electric grid as well as heat to a local heating system and is powered by 21 hydrogen fuel cells each generating 2.8MW.
A new draft energy policy, the 'Basic Energy Plan', issued by the Japanese government entails a long-term commitment to nuclear power which is singled out as an "important baseload source". The move marks a U-turn from the "Zero Nuclear Power" proposed by the previous Japanese administration.
The announcement this week that the Peterhead CCS project will share £100 million of funding has paved the way for testing of the first commercial scale gas-fired power plant with CCS in the world. “This research will better understand the implications of long term exposure and operation of classes of carbon capture materials when functioning in the field,” Dr Mathieu Lucquiaud, a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh told Gas to Power Journal.
General Electric (GE) has announced it will extend its ecomagination initiative, investing a further $10 billion over the next six years with a focus on improving turbine efficiency. The programme which aims to develop sustainable products with minimal environmental impact will receive a total of $25 billion by 2020.
General Electric (GE) will be investing $1.4billion over the next four years to help meet the growing global demand for on-site power systems, the U.S.-based power major announced in Jakarta today at the launch of its new distributed power business while disclosing an array of related contract wins.
Algeria has stepped up gas-fired power generating capacity in the country with the award of multi-billion dollar contracts for new plants that will produce an additional 3000MW. Samsung C&T Corp won orders worth a combined $1.37 billion to build two new plants while Siemens Energy announced it will supply equipment to power the $450 million gas-fired plant in Biskra, Algeria.